4/28/06

I tried a different approach this night at the same underground SNG place I went the night before. I wanted to see if what would happen if I played ALL the low hole cards that I got dealt. Very risky but I wanted to test this. Also another thing I wanted to try out was Hi-lo cards, which I think is more risky to play than BBS, because you are encroaching more into the Premium hand territory.

First game I played, I get my money in with really low hole cards and I was not hitting the flop much if at all actually. I look down at T5o and was facing a 2xBB raise from a player on my right. I call and since I was the first to act, I did my "check blind" thing and was awarded with a J-T-5 flop. But with my opponent checking, the turn was free and it was an 8. I bet 250 and my opponent raised it to 750 which I called. and with a 6 on the river, I checked and my opponent as well. I flipped up my hole cards and I got beat by T8o.
BBS Denied

Analysis - My check blind routine preflop, which was money for me recently, became my undoing this hand. Preflop I was 33/66 dog, what else is new but postflop I was ahead 75/25. After the turn, I was severely behind 8/92 and that's all she wrote. If I didn't check blind, I could have moved all in, which would have forced my opponent to look really hard at his hand, which was at that point, mid pair low kicker.

Same game, I look down at 74o and I raised 3xBB. I got only one caller and with the flop J-7-2 I check and my opponent check. I didn't really take good notes on this hand but the board ended with 2-10 and my opponent checking to me and I made a value bet of 250, which he called. I turned over my cards and he turned over pocket threes. That actually caught me by surprise because of the cards there on the board. He couldn't beat anything on the board, even the two because if I had a two that would have given me trips. Maybe just a stuborn player.
BBS Served

Analysis - So preflop it was a classic race situation with a pair vs. over cards, that was fine. But after the flop I was 92/8 favorite to win but dipped down a little after the turn, 95/5 but still commanding position.

In my last hand of that game, I looked down at 34o and called a 600 bet which was 3xBB at the time. A-K-2 came on the flop which gave me an inside straight draw (not really open ended cause if it was, then I would have made my straight already). Both of us check but I decided to push all-in after another 2 came out on the turn. My opponent quickly called and he turned over pocket nines. Somehow I still liked my chances at that point but I lost when a 6 came out on the river.
BBS Denied

Analysis - Preflop I was a dominated dog 16/84, which is a tough hole to come out of, but having live cards usually helps and with the flop, I clawed back, albeit a little, now with 19% chance to win at that point. With the two coming out on the turn, I was pretty much drawing dead with only 9% chance to win or about 4 outs.

Game Result - (400)
Running Total - 600

After that we played another short handed game with a bigger buy-in. I manage to serve a BBS to a player with pocket sevens with me holding 36o but in my last hand, I was semi-short stack looking down at 26o waiting for the action to come to me and Lo and behold, one player goes all-in with another player calling. I covered the player calling but the person who was the primary all-in player covered both of us. I called and the original all-in player opened Pocket Queens and the caller opened AKo. The flop all gave us a piece of the action coming 2-K-Q but with the pocket Queens becoming a set it was pretty much a done deal. A case ten came on the turn sending us underdogs deeper in the hole and pretty much drawing dead. A six came on the river only to tease me of what could have been. If I had only Big Slick to contend with I would have served a BBS but not this time.
BBS Denied

Analysis - I was totally deep in the hole with only 13% chance to win the game preflop with the pocket queens ahead 49% and Big Slick with 38%. Post flop the Queens were ahead, 94% chance to win from there while I had the dreaded <1% chance to win. Overcards are ok to challenge but Overpairs seems to hard to serve a BBS to, we'll keep trying and post results either way. Game

Result - (600)
Running Total - Even

BBS Sidebar - I have been keeping a very nice leather notebook to record my BBS servings recently and after one incident, while I was writing my entry, a player on the other side of the table asks what I was doing, and I said that I was keeping track of my Bad Beats. This seemed to triggered a chorus of "Dear Diary" from three players. I just said "Its for my blog, I put in all the players that I have dealt bad beats to," which quickly shut them up.
BBS Served - You just got F'd in the A.